Dealership: No impact on orders as Porsche closes plants

KERRY PETERS

Luxury sports-car manufacturer Porsche announced on Wednesday that it is suspending production at its European plants because of the coronavirus but Lifestyle Motors, the local dealership, is expecting no immediate impact on TT operations or pending customer orders.

Commenting on the situation, Avinash Rampersad, executive director at Lifestyle, told Newsday Porsche’s first priority was to ensure the health, safety and well-being of its customers and employees.

In a statement, Rampersad said: “We can also provide some comfort to our Porsche customers that we are able to confirm our available stock has not been affected at this time. We are still looking forward to the new Porsche Cayenne Coupe arriving at the end of this month.”

However, it is uncertain for how long Porsche’s manufacturing plants will remain closed and Rampersad could make no reliable forecast about how this might affect local supply through the second half of the year.

What won’t be affected, Rampersad says, is service.

“We would like to provide comfort to our Porsche owners that their vehicles would be serviced as usual and our service team has employed best practices for a sterile environment,” the Lifestyle statement said.

Porsche’s plant closures follows significant decline in sales and massive disruption in global supply chains caused by the Covid19 pandemic.

In Wednesday’s statement, the company said it is preparing for a decline in demand and securing its financial strength with the closure of two main plants in Zuffenhausen and Leipzig in Germany from Saturday.